IBC unveils shortlist for its 2019 Innovation Awards

From 6K to holographic projection and from esports to the FIFA World Cup, this year’s ten Innovation Awards finalists show a clear trend towards global co-operation and remarkable advances in bringing new engagement to content.

Representing the very best of technical excellence in pursuit of real benefits for producers and viewers alike, the Innovation Awards judges were “astounded by the range of imaginative projects submitted and had some really tough decisions to make,” said Michael Lumley, chair of the international judging panel.

“Although we never look for a theme in our list of finalists, the shortlist usually reflects the wider industry,” Lumley added. “This year you can definitely see that there are a number of projects which are global in their scale and which use new opportunities in connectivity to bring us astounding images, whether that is capturing life under the sea or the excitement of sports.”

There are three categories: the first, Content Creation, recognises excellence in creating content. The four finalists for this category are:

• Fox Sports for its augmented reality studio for Nascar
• Riot Games for its remote production in Los Angeles of the League of Legends World Championships in Seoul
• SailGP and Timeline Television, again for remote production, this time of SailGP, a new annual, global sports championship re-defining the sport of sailing
• Vodafone in Romania for enabling an 11-year-old guitarist to join a rock band on stage, through a 5G remote link and holographic projection

For the Content Distribution category, the finalists are:

• Associated Press, for its technical audacity in using lasers through open water to bring broadcast quality video from depths of 200m off the Seychelles
• BT Sport for its practical demonstration of the use of 5G for remote production
• COPA90 for its radical new approach to social media and fan engagement globally, from the FIFA World Cup in 2018

The shortlist for the Content Everywhere category is:

• Deutsche Telekom for advancing immersive video experiences with a 6k resolution 360˚ service
• ETV Bharat in India for building a news production and playout platform at a remarkable scale for 24 OTT channels in 13 languages, served by 5,000 journalists
• Mediapro for delivering matches and fan entertainment from LaLiga Spanish football, on Facebook Watch in Indian Subcontinent

While the shortlist is now announced , the identity of the winners remains a secret until the IBC2019 Awards Ceremony, held at 18:30 on Sunday 15 September. This year IBC is introducing two new awards: the Young Pioneer Award, recognising rising talent in our industry, and the Social Impact Award, recognising those making a positive impact in the wider world. The winners of all these awards and IBC’s highest accolade, the International Honour for Excellence, will be announced at the IBC Awards Ceremony.

Entry to the IBC Awards Ceremony is included in your free IBC exhibition visitor pass. Register now: show.ibc.org/register.